Saturday, April 5, 2014

Gallery Pradarshak presents a solo show of young artist Daphene Dias. The show titled, ‘Glass on fire’ displays the artists experiments with a unique medium of enamelling steel over copper which is rare. Her choice of subjects is abstractions of cityscapes which allow her the freedom to render shapes, colours and compositions which appear exquisite.

In her works she has employed various techniques such as impasto, limoges, stenciling etc. The artist uses the sgraffito techniques to reveal the mental below the enamel surface.

The show is on view from 31st March to 14th April 2014.

Millennium Dreams

India International Centre, New Delhi presents a photography show titled, ‘Millennium Dreams’ curated by Aditya Arya, under the aegis of Neel Dongre Awards/Grants for Excellence in Photography by India Photo Archive Foundation.

This project aims at providing a visual interpretation of the Millennium city - Gurgaon. The Foundation presents a collaborative photographic project by eleven photographers presenting different interpretations of Gurgaon through distinctive artistic, documentary styles.

Shrine Empire gallery, New Delhi presents the show ‘Invented Identities’ curated by Paroma Maiti, winner of the Shrine Empire Art Scribes Award meant to promote young contemporary art writers in/ from India through a well organized writing competition, in the year 2012.

Identity and the processes of its fabrication are intriguing issues. At various levels - personal (psychological and physiological), social or national - 'identity' is something that, even though is such an innate part of our being, ironically, is a construct. The processes of that 'construction' are fascinatingly innovative and imaginative and most interestingly in conformity with socio-psychological, popular tropes. Facebook, for instance, is one of the greatest contemporary examples of being a platform that urges, even forces one to constantly 'invent' identities and project them in keeping with the protagonist's tastes/preferences etc.

Memory is a curious catalyst in the creation and propagation of this identity-formation. At a certain distance in time, it often becomes difficult to tell memory from imagination. This show looks at the varied ways in which memory and identity coalesce or diverge to produce colourful mélanges.

The show previews on 11th April and will be on view till 9th May 2014.( News reports by Sushma Sabnis)FEATURE

Annual art exhibition in Delhi in need of some energy

(Images offering glimpses of the exhibition which has several art works making strong comment on politics and power. Photo: Shailaja Tripathi)

The 55th National Exhibition of Art is underway at Lalit Kala Akademi (LKA), the apex body responsible for the promotion of visual arts in the country. In addition to 168 artists, there are 9 invited artists like Rajender Tiku, Dhiraj Choudhary, etc. and four LKA produced films on S.H. Raza, M.F. Husain, Ram Kumar and Akbar Padamsee — all directed by Laurent Bregeat, a famous name in the world of art films. Executed in a wide range of mediums by artists from across the country, some of them are really fine specimens of creativity and imagination. An annual effort that was kicked off by the Akademi in 1955, it is one of its most seminal activities but over the years it has increasingly lost its lustre.

(Images offering glimpses of the exhibition which has several art works making strong comment on politics and power. Photo: Shailaja Tripathi)

It’s heartening to note that the screening committee year after year makes an effort to go beyond the standard names and dig out interesting works by promising names. A number of etchings, woodcuts in particular, are included in the show, besides paintings, sculptures, ink on paper, tea wash and whatnot. But one wishes a member of the curatorial staff from the LKA was stationed inside the gallery to help the common visitor comprehend the nuances of art on display. A problem with our cultural organisations is their functioning in isolation, failing to create a dialogue with the masses. And as a result the distance between the two has only increased.

(Images offering glimpses of the exhibition which has several art works making strong comment on politics and power. Photo: Shailaja Tripathi)

But despite everything, as claimed by an official, exhibitions at LKA receive a footfall of around 300-400 per day. Seems slightly exaggerated, but even if it is true, a large chunk of it is courtesy LKA’s strategic location. So if things were to change, change for the better, the venue would be swarming with public.

(Images offering glimpses of the exhibition which has several art works making strong comment on politics and power. Photo: Shailaja Tripathi_

A small leaflet or a catalogue of the show, welcoming staff and proper advertising of LKA’s mega events like this would really help. In this particular case, one also feels if it could have been held a little earlier to get more attention, since elections have taken precedence over everything else right now.

The 55th National Exhibition of Art is on at LKA, Rabindra Bhawan, till April 10th 2014